M. Hoops: Blue Devils dismantle State late

From tip off in Cameron Indoor Stadium, N.C. State played well above the level of a 10-6 team. The Wolfpack held No. 2 Duke to just 29 percent shooting, and a dismal 14 percent from three. But as bad as the Devils’ game was in the first half – it was that good in the second. Duke made a complete turn-around in the final twenty minutes, shooting 77 percent and shutting down the Pack offense, and ultimately taking the game 73-56.

Duke’s Gerald Henderson won the tip off, but for the opening minutes, that was all the excitement on the court. The first field goal didn’t come until three minutes into the game at the hands of Duke’s Nolan Smith. On the other end of the court, State struggled offensively, turning the ball over three times before making a basket. With the exception of a lone foul shot, State was unable to score through seven minutes of play, with Duke leading 10-3.

But then the Pack started to turn the game around. Courtney Fells and Trevor Ferguson tallied shots on back to back possessions. Fells added another basket to bring the game to 14-11. Dennis Horner shut down 7’1” Duke center Brian Zoubek in the paint. This brought further signs of fight from the Pack, and after good shots from Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner, Coach Krzyzewski was forced to call a timeout. State continued to push through to win offensive rebounds, leaving the Crazies to voice their frustrations that their Blue Devils were down 26-22 at the half on Coach K court.

The Pack had Krzyzewski shaking his head and barking orders at his team in the frustrating first half – and for good reason.

“I think State’s good. They’re two points away from being 13-2 coming in here, maybe three possessions,” Krzyzewski said. “I think they have two of the best players in the league in Costner and McCauley.”

Both Costner and McCauley led the Pack in scoring with 15 points each.

The teams battled back and forth for shots within the paint early in the second half, but when Fells stole the ball on a Duke possession and passed to McCauley for a wide open drive, the score was 34-28 State.

But the six point lead proved to be the Pack’s largest, because just when momentum for the Pack was on the upswing, the Devils took control of the game.

Duke guard Gerald Henderson turned up the heat on State during the second half, making a quick two pointer, while Costner fought fire with fire, scoring two then a long three. But Henderson was a force to be reckoned with, almost single handedly turning the Duke game around down the stretch with easy jumpers and multiple dunks, and leading the Devil offense with 21 points. Duke took a 52-49 lead just after ten minutes and never looked back.

State continued to fail on shots while defensively leaving Duke wide open on several plays. The Devils found a devastating scoring touch, as Henderson and McClure made back-to-back dunks on the Pack. Duke guard Jon Scheyer lit up the scoreboard with a long range three in the final minutes, and Kyle Singler sealed the deal with ten seconds remaining, hanging off the rim while the Pack watched in dismay.

N.C. State travels to Chestnut Hill, Mass. on Saturday, Jan. 24th to take on Boston College.